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Rested Konerko back at designated hitter

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Konerko's RBI single 0:37

5/8/13: Paul Konerko drops a base hit in front of Mike Baxter, scoring Alex Rios and extending the White Sox lead to 5-1 in the seventh

By Scott Merkin
/
MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- Giving Paul Konerko the first two days off in the three-game Twins series accomplished more than a mental and physical reboot for the captain in the opinion of White Sox manager Robin Ventura.

"He's a tinkerer, too, so he can go in the cage and tinker with things," said Ventura of Konerko, who hit .176 with one homer and five RBIs in his past 17 games. "He has the ability to do that without thinking he's going to the plate that night or the next night."

Konerko returned to action Wednesday afternoon with one hit and a run scored and was back in the lineup for Thursday night's series opener against the Angels as the designated hitter.

"Again, if you're feeling tired, I'd rather him just DH than be on the field," Ventura said. "Adam [Dunn] does a little better as far as his mental thing being on the field. I don't know if either one is a perfect DH to just sit in the dugout.

"Paul will play first base here, too, I'm sure. Today it's keeping it the same."

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.